Originally published in England, this tale of romance and murder on a few tiny islands in the Indian Ocean was written in the '30s and is based on an actual experience of the then-young author. Copper Randal is visiting Valerie, a school friend who is the daughter of the commissioner of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. The British community there is small and eccentric, its predictable social rounds occasionally enlivened by visiting naval officers. A Christmas Eve picnic is interrupted by a raging tropical storm, during which an indigent British plantation owner is killed. A visiting Navy doctor voices suspicion of murder and is the next victim. With communications to the mainland cut, the storm still in force, terror takes over the island as the search for motive turns up a surprising number of suspects. One is handsome Nick Tarrent, friend of Valerie's fiance and object of Copper's troubling romantic fantasies. With its satisfying plot, deft characterization and emphasis on setting and atmosphere, this early effort from an established talent is both fresh and credible. 40,000 first printing. (May 19)